Heidfeld critical of Rosberg's driving

Rosberg dived down the inside of Heidfeld at the Senna S on lap 59, locking up and sending both cars wide.

The incident cost Heidfeld two positions as his teammate Robert Kubica was able to accelerate past while the two cars were sliding off-line. Rosberg subsequently caught and re-passed Kubica 10 laps later, but Heidfeld had to be content with sixth.

"During the race graining was an issue with the front tyres as well as the rear tyres, and this resulted in a couple of mistakes, but this must have been the case for everybody," said Heidfeld.

"But still in the final stint I was fourth until Nico Rosberg outbraked me.

"The manoeuvre was hard and on the limit, but if I had not opened the door we would have crashed. We both went on the dirt a little bit and Robert squeezed through.

"At the very end I was faster than him again but couldn't go by."

Despite his annoyance over Rosberg's pass, Heidfeld was satisfied that his result helped to take BMW to a total of 101 points in 2007.

"We have cracked the hundred points milestone, and it was a fantastic season," he said.

Kubica ran as high as third thanks to his three-stop strategy, but said he had been hampered by both an overheating engine and tyre issues. He also rued time lost behind the heavier Rosberg in the middle of the race.

"Everything was going all right until I got the call to reduce the rpm of the engine because the temperatures were too high," he said.

"Then when I was behind Nico Rosberg I was losing a lot of time each lap.

"In the last ten laps I was having lots of problems with the tyres and I was just trying to keep the car on the track."